Holding On
by Myomi-chan
Summary: "I'm the kind of girl who likes to laugh." So, needless to say, when Tenten laughs, she always ends up leaning on him for support. She seems to do that a lot. But what will her relationship be like with Neji after the war? NejiTen, NaruHina and SasuSaku.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any of the characters involved with the story. That honor is Kishimoto-san's. Anyways, get ready for some NejiTen fluff! ^^ NaruHina also, and a dash of SasuSaku (if you look carefully). Enjoooy~~~

I'm the kind of girl who likes to laugh. Sure, every girl has her whimsical fantasies about her prince charming coming to save her from the dragon clutches that are school, but it never saddened me when I realized those daydreams would never come true.

To the contrary.

I laughed it off.

So when I was placed on a team with Hyuuga Neji and Rock Lee, I had replaced my hilarious former dreams with more practical ones: I wanted to be a famous ninja, like the Sannin Tsunade. I wanted her strength, too. Even I couldn't laugh at these dreams.

Now, that's not to say I STOPPED laughing or anything. When our sensei showed up in all his green spandex-y glory, I couldn't help but burst out laughing. And when Lee adopted Gai-sensei's hairstyle and fighting style, I had to hold on to Neji to keep from falling to the ground in giggles.

Needless to say, I've leaned on Neji a lot.

Like the time when Lee tried to run up the side of the Hokage monument and ended up ripping his new jumpsuit. Neji was annoyed, Gai-sensei was horrified, and I was hysterical with laughter. I was holding on to Neji for dear life then, too.

And the time when Naruto fell out of his chair at Ichiraku's. We happened to be passing by when he did, and I just- ugh. I couldn't help it! I tried, I honestly did, because Naruto is such a sweetie, but I ended up chortling anyways. Neji actually had to help me get up from the ground because I was having trouble catching my breath.

I could go on forever, because there are tons of times when I've needed Neji to help me stand because I was chucking my innards out, but you've only got so much time and I've only got so much patience.

So.

It was a nice, beautiful day when I finally returned to Konoha after the war. I was exhausted, but we had won, somehow; it was probably because of Naruto. That boy can change the tides of battle faster than he can talk, and that's saying something.

Anyways, the birds were chirping, the trees were green and rustling softly, the sky was a rich blue- the whole cliche. And here I was, a war hero, all sweaty and beaten and bloody and bruised, probably looking hopelessly out of place in my armor and ripped clothing and smelly self. Even from the distance, I could hear the cheers. The civilians were welcoming the returning army.

I smiled faintly, glad I'd had other people to make the journey home with. The Ino-Shika-Cho gang were noisily arguing about who had the most influence on the field. I had to sniffle a snort of mirth.

It seemed that even after all the blood we'd seen, we were all still us.

That was a relief to me.

After shoving past the crowd cheering at us, I hurriedly headed home. My number one priority: a shower. You'd think that having plenty of water would be a priority to the officials; bathing keeps diseases from spreading as easily, after all.

Nope. Apparently having loads of it to save "in the event of drought" was more important than keeping us all from dropping like fleas of diarrhea or bronchitis or something. As if the drought wouldn't evaporate away all that stored water, anyways.

Suddenly my head snapped up when I heard thousands of screams and yells of joy from the front gate. Even from the distance I had made, I could hear them chant the tree syllables of a name.

I grinned.

So Mr. War Hero was back, eh?

I went and showered, all right. My own bit of gratitude to the goofball could wait until AFTER I didn't smell like dead bodies and sweaty pigs.

Id say it took me a good few hours to get all my spoils of war arranged in my closets and stuff. I washed my clothes and rearranged my weapons arsenal, making room for my new gear. I showered til the water was freezing cold because I'd used up all the warm stuff, and then wrapped myself up in some seriously fluffy towels.

My parents? I don't have any. It's why I always kinda thought Naruto wasn't as bad as the villagers made him out to be- I couldn't diss him for just wanting a laugh or two.

Hell, I knew the feeling all too well.

Pardon my language. Neji and Lee've been working on me about that, and you'd be surprised how well it's turning out. Hell's one of the few words I frequently use anymore.

Anyways, it was evening when I finally was ready to go find Naruto. The sky was continuing it's cliche thing and was all pink and red and golden, with stringy little clouds that took on the color of whatever patch of sky they were in. I had to stop and admire it a bit. Sure, cliche is overdone, but who's to say it isn't beautiful in it's own way?

I found him at Ichiraku's, eating the owner out of house and home. He grinned when I waved at him, and nearly swallowed a chopstick when I thwacked him on the back.

Sakura, Shikamaru, Chouji, Ino, Kiba, Shino and Lee were already gathered around him. I saw the shopkeeper's daughter waving away speculating civilians.

They were probably trying to give Naruto a moment of peace.

But there were two people I didn't see around.

The Hyuuga's.

As Naruto told his heroic tale of a battle hard-won, and Sakura began to sob and ran off to the hospital to kill/kiss the Uchiha, I asked Lee if he'd seen them yet. When I got no affirmative from him, I tapped Shikamaru on the shoulder and asked him if he knew if they were ok.

He sighed, taking a drag on his cigarette, and shrugged.

"Who knows? They're probably on their way home right now, but you never know."

I nodded. If Shikamaru figured they were fine, I'd trust his calculations.

After a while Naruto seemed to notice their absence, too. His grin lessened and lessened, until he was hanging his head and getting up to go home and call it a day.

I caught up with him as he began rooftop-hopping.

"Hey, I know you've heard this way too much all day, but thanks. You're a lifesaver."

He grinned back at me, and we stopped on a high, flat rooftop. "Yeah, well, I appreciate it. I know you all really mean it." His grin slipped and he looked up at the horizon there the sun was disappearing.

"Have you heard from them...?" he asked quietly. I shook my head.

"I'm worried, too."

He nodded, then flashed a surprisingly honest grin at me. "Ne, I'm sure they're on their way."

He began to hop, but then turned back to me.

"Hey, if you see them... Will you come get me? I need... I have to tell Hinata something."

It took me only a second to grasp what he was saying. I nodded vigorously.

"Yeah, I will."

He nodded, and left me there.

And I, having no desire to turn in yet, decided to go sit at the gate.

The guards posted there gave me a few skeptical looks when I plopped myself down right smack-dab in the middle of the road, but they didn't tell me to move, so I didn't.

I waited until the sun had hidden and the moon had risen to give chase, trying to spot where it was hiding as it arched higher into the starstruck night sky.

And I decided, hey, I should probably go to sleep now.

I stood, dusted myself off, waved to the guards, and began the trek back to my apartment.

I was turning onto my street when I heard shouts.

My eyes widened.

I forgot how tired I was and just ran.

As I turned the corner to go back out the gate, I stopped, breathless.

They were back.

FINALLYYYYYYYYY!

I was about to start forward when I remembered Naruto. He didn't live that far from my house, so I turned on my heel and dashed back the way I'd come.

If he was upset I'd interrupted him right before a shower, he didn't show it.

But I had interrupted him, and so he ended up running out of his apartment holding a shirt to put on and zipping his pants up as I lead the way.

He passed me up, zipping his jacket up, and I couldn't help but follow, curious.

It was worth it.

He pushed past the crowd slowing the army's pace to their respective homes, scanning the crowd until he spotted her. Then he just leapt off someone's head and landed a few feet from her, balanced himself, and without a pause, ran and scooped her up in a full-blown hug.

She was blushing, probably fighting to stay conscious, but she slowly responded by patting him nervously on the back. Then he pulled back, asked something, and smiled broadly when she slowly nodded and turn redder.

And then he swept her up in his arms again and spun wildly with her, laughing, and yelling his reply to her.

It was really truly funny. I giggled a bit, but then I just gasped and watched giddily as he put her down, kissed her passionately, and whispered something else in her ear as she caught her breath.

As the crowd cheered and whistled, she nodded again, and his smile seemed to spread off his face as he grabbed her hand and ran off with her, laughing freely.

And she followed, for once not painfully aware of the gathered crowd, and laughed freely, too.

They were headed towards the Hyuuga compound.

Probably to ask Hiashi if they could get married, I thought smugly. Oh yes, he would say yes, and soon enough there would be bells and singing and in a few years, there would probably be little Naruto's and Hinata's running around the village, proudly using their Hokage father's influence to get their way.

I laughed to myself as I began searching the crowd again.

He wasn't here. My grin fell.

Where WAS he, darnit?

I began to head towards the Hyuuga household. I mentally apologized to Naruto and Hinata as I headed to barge in and demand to speak to Neji when I saw him.

He was turning the corner.

Not going left, though.

My heart began to beat faster as I ran in chase.

He was heading towards MY house.

"Neji!" I yelled.

He stopped and turned quickly.

I had been telling myself all day not to cry when I saw him. It's too bad that the heart doesn't like to listen to what we demand of it.

And he spread his arms as I tackled him, bawling my eyes out. He hugged me just as tightly as Naruto had held Hinata.

"You're holding me again," he scolded halfheartedly. I laughed.

"Yeah, well, I need SOME support along the way," I said.

He laughed softly. I glanced up to see a faint smile there on his face.

"How long do you think a foundation lasts?" he asked quietly. "We both witnessed hundreds fall apart in front of our eyes."

I shook my head. "You're not a BUILDING, Neji. Neither am I. Buildings crumble. We don't."

He shook his head.

"People can crumble," he said carefully, "and foundations have no purpose without supporting something." He looked at me meaningfully.

I laughed, wiping my tears away.

"Is this your way of proposing because you didn't feel like getting a ring?" I asked. He chuckled and reached into his pocket.

"I'm not Naruto, you know."

My heart stopped.

"Oh..." was all I could manage.

It was a simple little thing, and kind of old-looking. But it took my breath away anyways.

"It's my mothers," he said simply.

I stared, eyes wide, as he knelt on his knee.

"Tenten," he said. That's all. He didn't ask me outright; there was a crowd gathering, and unlike his cousin, HE was certainly becoming increasingly fidgety.

I nodded. He let out a breath.

And then, as he slid the ring onto my hand and the people around us whistled and applauded, I saw him smile.

I mean, REALLY smile.

And as he grabbed my hand and pulled me towards the Hyuuga household, away from the congratulating crowd, I sheepishly realized something.

It seemed that I was gonna end up interrupting Naruto and Hinata's love parade after all.

With my own.

And so I leaned into Neji and let loose a powerful chortle. He slowed and looked down at me curiously, and when I just kept laughing, he grinned and let out a chuckle himself.

Then he leaned down and kissed me. I tuned out all the cat-calls and wolf-whistles as I kissed him back.

And this time, instead of just me holding him, we BOTH held onto each other.

- Another one-shot I made. 3 I really stepped out of my comfort zone with this one; I'm used to dramaticizing everything from the very beginning, so adding humor into the mix was veeeery tough for me. So how'd I do? Was it funny at ALL? And did I overdo anything? I hope not… .'' anyways, R&R, plz! ^3^ I loooooove reading your responses~~~!


	2. Chapter 2

Guess what?

I was right.

Naruto and Hinata reacted kindly enough to our barging in on their private meeting with Hiashi and the Elders. Hell, Hiashi himself seemed a bit excited when he saw Neji holding my hand.

But the Hyuuga Elders? Yeah, not so happy.

Of course, in retrospect, we HAD barged in on a wedding meeting.

But that was because Neji and I wanted our OWN d*** wedding meeting.

Naruto was glowing with happiness, so even the Elders glares at Neji and me didn't sway him.

"Ne, let them go first," he said, dragging Hinata to stand up with him. "We'll go share our news with Obaa-san!"

And with that, they took off, Hinata stuttering out a few wimpy protests and Naruto waving them off.

How KIND of Naruto to have left US to deal with the angry old farts.

So Neji and I sat through a few hours' worth of lecturing before Neji quietly interrupted and asked to escort me home. The Elders wanted someone to "chaperone," and so Hiashi led us outside.

And as soon as we left the gates, he hit Neji on the back proudly with a grin.

"You nabbed yourself a good one," I heard him mutter. "I'm proud of you, nephew." Then he looked off towards the hospital.

"Now I wonder where Kushina's brat dragged my daughter off to..." he mumbled, shaking his head."You would think he could have inherited his father's BRAINS, or his MOTHERS, for THAT matter..." And with that Hiashi stomped off, grumbling under his breath.

I was too tuckered out from all the boring old people words to manage more than a weak chuckle. Neji noticed.

"Let's get you home," he said, taking my hand.

"Or," I said hopefully, "we could elope and run away to Suna until Hinata and Naruto are the village leaders. Then we could come back without worrying about all the formalities."

Neji snorted skeptically.

"The Elders would just drag us back here and accuse one of us with kidnapping the other."

I sighed, leaning my head on his shoulder. "Ya got a point there..."

After running into a few people who had seen Neji propose to me earlier, we began hopping roofs to avoid the hassle of accepting congratulations and all of that.

But when we reached the roof of my apartment, I plopped myself down and decided I would pretend I was some immovable rock or something.

Neji, after a few unsuccessful attempts to make me stand, huffed in frustration and sat down next to me.

"You need to rest, Tenten," he said. "We both do. We just got home from fighting a WAR."

I nodded. "I know, but..." I looked up at the moon. It seemed just minutes ago that it had barely replaced the sun, yet now it, too, was receding. "I don't want you to leave just yet."

I saw his eyes soften, and he picked up my hand, examining it.

Or maybe he was admiring how the ring fit. I don't know. Either way, we sat in a contented silence like that, him holding my hand and me watching the moon take its turn to hide from the sun.

Finally, I yawned, accidentally breaking our quiet. Neji helped me stand, and practically dragged me to my front door.

"Don't get out of bed until after noon," he advised me. "I should have sent you to bed hours ago, I'm sorry."

I shook my head, giggling a bit.

"Neji, I don't mind," I said. And then, after a moment, added, "And who told you that YOU were in charge of my bedtime?"

He smiled. "The Elders," he replied. I made a gagging sound and he threw his head back and laughed, pulling me in for a hug.

"Oh God, I love you," he said. I smiled happily.

"Sheesh, did it really take me making a DYING sound to make you say those words?"

He looked down at me sheepishly. "Sorry," he said. "I thought-"

I kissed him.

"Gotcha!" I giggled. He looked down at me, surprised, before arching an eyebrow and flinging me downwards and placing his own kiss on my lips.

"Gotcha," he whispered into my ear. I squealed and buried my head into his shoulder.

"Dude, I'm hanging upside down, let me up!" I said giddily. Neji chuckled and righted me again.

"Good night, Tenten," he said. "I've got to go find Hiashi-sama so we can put up the act that he actually WAS chaperoning us."

I nodded. I could see that his eyes were getting droopy, and realized guiltily it was partly my fault he was so tired.

"Good night, Neji."

He kissed me sweetly before watching me open my door and slide inside my apartment, and I watched him leave from my window.

And then I squealed hysterically and threw myself down on my couch.

I was engaged. I. Was. En. GAGED! To Neji! The boy I'd fallen in love with a long while back!

I fell asleep like that, on my couch, my eyes screwed shut as I remembered the feel of his lips against mine.

"Neji, what's it like having parents?" I asked him.

He shrugged. "I didn't know mine that well; they both died before I reached 7."

"Oh..."

We sat like that for a long time, in an awkward silence, before I cleared my throat.

"So, today we get a free day from Gai-sensei and Lee. Neat, huh?" I asked.

"I guess," was the stout reply.

"It's the first break we've had since Lee got injured last year!" I exclaimed. "We should put it to good use!"

Neji sighed, but stood and trailed along behind me as I headed towards the shopping district.

I was about to turn the corner when I stopped.

"Oh," I said, backing up. I accidentally bumped into Neji.

A couple of civilians were duking it out in the middle of the road.

"What do you-" I was about to step in and break it up when Neji grabbed my arm.

"Don't," he breathed. "Look."

I did.

A girl stood, her hands covering her mouth as she watched the brawl. And when one of the boys got slugged in the face, she flinched and yelled a name.

And the boy who had gotten slugged snapped back into action with a renewed vigor.

He won, naturally, as the cliché goes. And the girl ran up to him, tears flowing down her cheeks, and enveloped him in a hug.

This was one of the first times when I actually thought, Hey, maybe cliché isn't ALL that bad.

And then I recalled that Neji was still holding my arms, and I was still backed into his chest.

And so I tried to pull away.

There was the briefest moment of hesitation on his part, as if he wasn't sure he SHOULD let me go, but then his arms fell to his sides and I stumbled away from him.

I was blushing a bit, but I couldn't wrap my head around HIS actions. Was he PURPOSEFULLY holding me just now?

And why was my heart going all crazy on me?

We ended up not going shopping after all. I remember he randomly sat down on a bench, and so I followed suit, sitting next to him.

So as we sat and watched squirrels run about in the trees, I got drowsy.

When I came to, I realized two things. First, that I felt as if a pillow had just been yanked out from under me, and second, that I was sitting MUCH closer to Neji than I had realized.

"Mweep!" I squealed, jolting up. He looked back at me, amusement twinkling in his eyes.

"What?" he asked.

I was about to open my mouth to reply when I mentally shook myself. Neji wouldn't have put his arm around me while I was sleeping; it was something his personality would never allow.

And yet, for the rest of the day, even after we'd parted ways and I was preparing to go to bed, I couldn't shake the feeling that maybe he HAD done it...

And every time I thought that, my heart beat a little faster and my cheeks turned a little pinker.

When I opened my eyes, I noticed two things: first, sunlight was streaming through the blinds on my window, and second, my back HURT like CRAZY!

I sat up and groaned in agony as something began throbbing.

Well, I HAD Ben sleeping in a weird position on the couch...

"Ouuuuuch," I hissed, and began massaging my back as I opened the blinds to check where the sun was.

It wasn't at the midway point yet, so I stretched and went to my room.

I'd LIKE to say I had a beautiful, fluffy bed with tons of pillows and stuff, but that would be lying. I had a so-so mattress with three fluffy pillows, and a blanket that was used year-round.

Honestly, the closest thing to the cliché girly, perfect room image would be the pillows. Seriously.

I fell onto my bed, exhausted, and soon found myself drifting off to sleep again.

And a knock on my door kept me from falling into slumber. I moaned, and just rolled over so that my head was facing the ceiling.

Should I answer it? I wondered. Whoever it was could wait, surely...

And so I drifted back to sleep, tuning the increasingly impatient knocking out.

"Neji," I said. He turned towards me.

We had changed in those three years of training.

And now, suddenly, I just HAD to realize that my FEELINGS had changed, too.

Right before we were about to leave to go fight in a war. A war that one (or both) of us might not come back from.

And here I was, shifting nervously from foot to foot.

"Sooooo..." I drawled, stalling for time. "Uhm..."

"Tenten."

I looked up at him. He was walking back towards me now, and he dropped his bags in a hurry.

And he enveloped me in a hug.

I was shocked. I gotta admit, I just WAS. I had been planning on awkwardly confessing to him and then just getting the hell outta there before he could react.

So I guess he had kinda been figuring the same thing, because he began to back away.

"If I don't come back," he said, "just... Don't forget me."

He turned around and began to walk away.

"N...Neji!" I called. He stiffened, but didn't turn to face me.

I took a deep breath.

"If you come back," I said carefully, "and I don't..."

His head snapped around to look at me.

"If you die, I will hunt your spirit down and kill you again."

I smiled. "Well, in that case..." I decided this might be a moment to pull a Naruto, and so I put my hands behind my head, trying to relax myself. It didn't work, but I mentally shrugged; it was better than doing nothing.

"...I love you. So when you get back, we can argue and talk about it all you wanna, but I just had to say it. I love you. Ok. Bye!"

And I turned and got the hell outta there before he could react.

"I love you, too," said a voice.

I jolted awake, eyes wildly wide, and saw Neji sitting on the edge of my bed.

I nearly died right then, let me tell you.

And he just smirked at my crazed reaction to being woken up. He stood and walked towards the doorway.

"The Elders want to continue the chat with us."

I yawned and stretched and stood and headed for the kitchen, trying to forget I'd just freaked out so badly.

"Then I'll need some fuel." As I grabbed a pan and rummaged through the refrigerator for eggs, a thought occurred to me.

"Hey, how'd you get in?"

He smiled and sat on my couch. "I picked the lock."

I momentarily glared at him before I continued preparing my food.

"If you broke my lock, I swear I'll..."

He laughed. "Relax. I used Byakugan to watch what I was doing."

I sighed dramatically. "It can't be helped, I guess. Want an egg?"

"I ate earlier, thanks."

Once more a contented silence as we followed our individual trains of thought.

"Why'd you say you love me?" I asked suddenly.

"Uhh, cuz I DO-"

"Nonono, I mean when you woke me up."

Neji looked at me with a monotonous expression. "You said you loved ME. So I answered."

I nodded as I realized I must have been talking in my sleep. "I was dreaming."

"About what?"

"About you. About me. About US." I lowered the heat; the eggs were pretty much done. "I was remembering about when I first realized I loved you, and about when I confessed to you."

He nodded understandingly, as if this were something perfectly understandable. "Fun."

I laughed. "Yeah, sorta. I didn't like repeating the whole butterfly business."

I took the pan to the table and dumped it on top of a trivet as I went in search of some chopsticks. "You sure you don't want any?" I asked. "They're delicious."

His lips twitched upward a bit, but otherwise Neji remained completely composed.

"No offense, Tenten, but eggs are just eggs, no matter how you look at them. It's a fact of life."

I shrugged. "The way I see it, you need to appreciate 'em anyways. They're not big, but it's the little eggs that make it worth all the trouble."

After I finished eating and getting ready to appear in public, we headed over to the Hyuuga house. Hiashi casually joined us at some point along the way and grumbled something about how marriages should be approved by families and not just Hokages, and that his little girl hadn't even said a word about it to him. Not that he minded it was "Minato's," but he still didn't like the way "they went about the whole ordeal."

I assumed Hiashi wasn't taking his daughters relationship kindly.

The Elders drawled on and on about wedding ceremonies and preparations and even began arguing about if our child should have a Caged Bird seal. I eyed Neji meaningfully and he in turn eyed Hiashi warily.

And so Hiashi offered to the Elders a simple solution: Neji and I could just have a public wedding, and in that case, a child born of us would be treated as a normal civilian.

I wasn't pleased with the idea of raising a kid who would be a social outcast within its own clan, but then I remembered that by then Hinata would be the clan leader. And Naruto would be Hokage. Together, they would be able to back me up politically enough so that the child would be able to live a normal clan-members life without the threat of being sealed.

And then, RIGHT when things were wrapping up, I felt something unpleasant arising inside me.

I looked wildly around before rushing out and following my vague memory of visits here to train.

I barely made it to a bathroom before puking my guts out. Neji rushed in after me, worry written all over his face.

After I was done hurling my breakfast into the toilet, I groggily stood up.

Maybe Neji was right about the whole egg thing. Maybe I was wrong about them.

Either way, I would have to throw those eggs away. Obviously there was something in them that had not agreed with me.

Neji stood there awkwardly as I rinsed my mouth out.

And then he turned around and stomped down the hallway suddenly.

I hurriedly followed him, still feeling a bit dizzy.

What got HIM so upset?

... Maybe my breath? I grimaced. The aftertaste was nasty...

He turned around the corner and walked right up to an Elder who looked back at him with a bit of fear.

"What gives you the right to use your Byakugan on my fiancé while she's in a restroom?" he said.

Did I detect a hint of anger in his voice?

And wait, WHAT?

"Well, then perhaps there is an explanation for her rude exit."

Neji emitted a low growl. "She is sick," he said. "That hardly gives you permission to watch a young girl who is engaged as she enters a bathroom-"

"And is there any particular reason for her illness?" asked an Elderly woman.

I shivered when I caught the gist of what was being hinted at.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa," I said, jumping in between a CLEARLY ticked off Neji and the Elders facing us. "Look, I was in a hurry this morning to meet you here, so I didn't cook my eggs right this morning." Come to think of it, I hadn't bothered to check if they had had blood or eggshells mixed in with the yolk, either. Yeesh. Just my luck to get a BAD egg on the one day I'd need a GOOD one.

The Elders didn't believe me. It was written all over their faces.

"Look, I'm still a freaking vi-" I began.

"My nephew and his soon-to-be wife were not involved in any impure acts."

I turned and saw Hiashi walk in. He didn't look too happy with how the situation was turning out.

"I was with them when you sent me to chaperone, and the Hokage herself reported to me that Neji did not return until late last night. He met Tenten by the gate; Tsunade-sama told me that Neji's fellow ninja witnessed their reuniting there, and they said that they immediately began their journey here to seek permission to be betrothed." Hiashi looked at each Elder in the eye. "I fail to see how they could have found time in between to have even GLANCED at each other." With that, Hiashi stomped off to wherever he went, and Neji and I left quickly to avoid further questioning.

"That was..." I began as we began walking back to my house.

"I apologize," he said. "The Elders... have been known to jump to conclusions."

I laughed. "Yeah, I'm sure. 'Look, she ran off, let's peep on her!' Must go over WONDERFULLY around there, huh?" I laughed again.

Neji sighed. "You need to go home and rest. You're sick."

I was about to protest when I saw someone walking among the crowd on the streets. "Hey, how about a quick healing? That'll do, right?" I ran off and called out.

"Sakura, hey!"

The pink-haired girl turned around. Her eyes were puffy, as if she'd been crying, but she also looked as if she were on cloud nine.

Love, I thought. It does crazy things.

"Hey, Tenten. Hi, Neji." She grinned. "Tsunade told me the news; congratulations, you two!"

I nodded. "Yeah, thanks." Neji cleared his throat before I could show Sakura my ring.

"We were wondering if you could help Tenten?" he asked. "She's ill."

Sakura nodded slowly.

"You're not...?" she asked. I groaned.

"Not you, too!" I wailed miserably.

"We have not done anything dirty of any sort, so if you could HEAL her," said Neji curtly. I nearly died of laughter at the sound of Neji saying "dirty," but I did my best to refrain, for his sake.

"Uhm, ok then."

Once Sakura produced a packet of pills from her pocket ("You probably just got food poisoning"), Neji and I continued to my apartment.

"So, I was thinking," I said slowly, "Do you think Naruto and Hinata will be able to prevent our kids from having a seal...?"

Neji nodded. "Yes," he said with a soft smile, "I'm sure Naruto will change that about the clan."

Content with the answer, we hurried to my home.

"Uhmmm..." was all I squeaked out.

Neji continued tucking me into bed as if he hadn't heard me.

"I will come to check on you later," he said. "In the meantime, rest."

He kissed my forehead as I huffed annoyingly.

"But I'm fiiiiiine," I protested.

"Sakura said you should rest, so-"

"Yeah, but this is, like, WAY overboard," I retorted. Neji huffed in irritation.

"Will a kiss make you feel better?" he asked.

I giggled. "Maybe," I replied. "Only one way to find out."

And so he leaned down and kissed me tenderly, and in return I consented to going back to sleep after he left.

And I dreamed of us walking hand in hand away from the Hyuuga compound, talking about eloping and children and Konoha's future and OUR future.

And if eggs were really worth the trouble.


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any characters from the manga/anime/etc. The rights owner is Masashi Kishimoto. **

I was late.

I had finally gotten over my slight egg phobia (I had been scared for a few weeks about a repeat of the whole barfing scene) and had been cooking some breakfast for myself only to drop the (very hot and filled with half-cooked eggs) pan on my bare foot.

And I, being the person I am, cursed and hurried to find some healer or something.

Yeah, not my morning. _Sooooo_ not my morning!

By the time I'd tracked down Sakura, I was limping a good deal and I was pretty sure I had some serious burns.

Sakura healed me and told me to hurry, the wedding was in two hours. I had nodded and decided to go home to clean the kitchen up from my horrible morning disaster, limping all the way ("I healed it to the point where it's just a bruise now," Sakura had said... _Some bruise_, I remember thinking glumly).

But of course, I got distracted after I'd finished cleaning and had ended up falling asleep on the living room floor, curling up with a sofa cushion.

When I had finally woken up, I was twenty minutes late.

I screamed and ran to my room, grabbing my dress and hurriedly shoving it on over my shoulders. I found a brush and quickly ran it through my loose hair as I searched for some decent shoes.

And then I proceeded to leap (hop? I was mostly using one leg) barefooted over rooftops, one hand holding my heels and the other clinging to a lovely little bag. I mentally patted myself on the shoulder for having prepared this gift in advance.

I didn't even stop to catch my breath when I had reached my destination. Nope, that wouldn't do. So instead I squared my shoulders and ran around until I found a side entrance, which I entered.

Churches always look so amazing. Even in my rush, I couldn't help but look around and admire the beautiful stained glass.

Pretty, shiny stuff gets ya every time.

Oh, yeah. Definitely the most cliche church for a cliche wedding.

I grinned at the thought.

The goofball and his sunshine were getting married today.

Okay, Tenten, I thought to myself, this is their big day. Don't screw up!

Well, any more than I already had, I added.

"Tenten!" hissed a voice. I cringed and quickly sprinted to Ino's side.

"What?" I hissed back, trying to stop panting from my little unexpected workout. I swear, sometimes all the ninja training in the world doesn't do any good when you're involved in big events like those.

"Give me the gift," she whispered. She snatched it from me before I could acknowledge her words, and shushed my protests. "You need to get in there, Tenten," she continued. I shoved my shoes on, wincing from my "bruise." "There's a side d-"

"Yeah, ok, going!" I bounded off towards the closed doors before me. I knew well enough that they probably lead into the chapel. I wasn't sure, though. Rehearsal had been last week, after all, and weeeelllll... I had felt at the time that the game arcade in town needed some new high scores more than I needed another tedious Elder lecture about manners and wedding traditions. Neji had chastised me about it, but I'd waved away his concerns with my hand and a chuckle, believing I could totally figure the place out as I went.

I was kind of regretting it now.

I pushed the doors open just as Ino frantically said, "Wait, don-" before abruptly cutting off.

I couldn't say I blamed her, either.

No one wants their voice to echo through a silent chapel filled to the brim with wedding guests. It would just be weird.

How unfortunate that I had opened the grand doors in the middle of the ceremony.

Naruto and Hinata stood at the altar, holding hands and looking strangely at me. The priests hand wavered above theirs, and he, too, stared at me.

My eyes alighted on Neji's. His seemed to hold amused shock, along with a partial warning that told me I had just ruined the rest of my morning and afternoon.

"Er, uhm..." I managed.

But why was everyone _STARING_ like that? I mean, yes, I was a little late to the wedding, but those scrunched-up faces were just... So...

I covered my mouth and pretended to clear my throat to hide my giggles. I was _NOT_ going to laugh at Naruto and Hinata's wedding guests. No _WAY,_ no _HOW_, even _IF_ Gai and Lee were wearing their jumpsuits underneath some hideous-looking green suit-tops that resembled trench-coats and-

Oh, God, I thought to myself. The giggles were beginning to escape.

I just screwed up. Rats! I'm so sorry, Naruto, Hinata! I thought.

"Hahahhhahahahah!"

I looked up to see Naruto leaning over and holding his stomach.

"Ahah... Ahahaah..." he continued. "Tenten, y-y'know you just w-walked in at the part where the-the dude asked if anyone objected a-a-and... Bahahahah..."

Hinata began to giggle a bit as I keeled over in hysterical laughter.

Might as well, right? It'd make me feel a _LITTLE_ better about the whole situation, and I never passed up an opportunity to laugh if it was an appropriate time.

Well, at least Naruto's thunderous laugher would cover my own.

I limped over to Neji as more and more of the audience began to join in with Naruto's laughing. I plopped myself down with one last chortle before putting my head in my hands. There was _NO_ way I was going to _EVER_ live this down.

_Whyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy?_

"It's okay," cooed Neji. I looked up to shoot him a glare before leaning back in my chair and sitting as proudly as I could manage. By now most of the church was silencing their giggles, and the priest was clearing his throat. Naruto began to take some deep breaths (probably because Hinata told him to) and when he was calm, the ceremony continued.

I sat awkwardly, fidgeting in my purple dress the whole time.

Neji held my hand as we walked to the party afterwards. Naruto and Hinata were already dancing. The blonde whispered something in her ear and she turned red, letting out a little squeak as he kissed her neck playfully.

As for me, I looked away.

I _reeeeeeeally_ wished I hadn't seen that. Naruto... Was obviously very hyped up. I could still hear his whispers over here (although I couldn't make out any words).

Neji lead me to a table reserved for us and Hiashi (he still had to "chaperone"). Hiashi, on his part, looked ready to start crying (whether out of happiness or sadness I had no clue), and he quickly stood and muttered something about getting some food and hurried away.

I looked down at the table.

Why, why, why, why, why, _why, __why, __**why?**_

I then banged my head against the table and decided to stay in that position. Y'know, the whole unmovable rock thing again.

Neji did try, though. He tried consoling me, tried convincing me, even tried to physically lift me, but my head remained firmly in place on the table. Finally he gave up when he realized he wasn't going to get anywhere.

That was when I heard little footsteps bounding over.

"Neji-nii-san!" said a voice.

I looked out of the corner of my eye to see Hanabi standing by the edge of the table.

Er, scratch that. She'd just sat down in her father's chair.

"Daddy said I get to chaperone for you guys," she said excitedly. The ten-year-old bounced up and down in her chair.

I laughed, deciding I could sit up again.

I couldn't help it. Neji's face... Was... Just... So... Priceless! And Hanabi's _OBVIOUS_ jubilee wasn't hard to smile at, either.

Neji scowled at me for a moment before cracking a grin himself, allowing a chuckle to escape. Hanabi, being a kid and not realizing why we were laughing, let out her own peal of giggles. I smiled at her.

"Well, Ms. Chaperone," I said, "do you know where the food is?"

"Yeaaaaaaahhhh!" she cried, jumping up. "Sorry, I forgot to bring some. I will go get you some now!"

I grinned as Neji caught on, too.

The girl had no idea what a chaperone was; or maybe she just thought it was a type of waiter. Either way, she scurried away, leaving me giggling and Neji with an amused expression.

"Hiashi probably... Ah... Misled her," said Neji. I raised my eyebrows.

"Just a little," I said sarcastically. I laughed again and sighed, shaking my head. "I feel horrible."

Neji nodded. "I'm sure you do," he replied. "Sakura vouched for your being late, though. She said she hadn't fully healed you so you were limping around, and it'd take you a while to get here. We actually kinda expected you to only show up for this, as late as you were."

Gee. Thanks for having faith in me, dude.

And note to self: buy Sakura some lovely chocolates for the would-be save.

I sighed.

"Oh, quit it," said Neji in an annoyed tone. I looked up in surprise. "You're _ALWAYS_ happy! Why are you so, ahh, so _NOT_ today?" He looked at me with concern in his eyes.

I laughed half-heartedly. "I guess I just got up on the wrong side of the bed today," I replied.

Just then Hanabi came bounding over, swiveling between the people beginning to join the Goofball and Hinata on the dance floor, and placed two plates piled with food on the table.

"Thanks, little chaperone," I said gratefully. Hanabi beamed up at me.

"Hanabi!" called a voice.

I turned my head (a fork with food poised in front of my mouth) to see Hinata a little ways away with her arms spread wide. Hanabi ran at her and embraced her sister, squealing in happiness.

"Congratulations, nee-chan!" she said. Hinata hugged her little sister.

"Thank you," she said happily.

"And _YOU_," said Hanabi, turning to Goofball. "_YOU_ promised to take me to the amusement park once your honeymoon is over!"

Naruto rubbed the back of his neck. "Oi, who told you it was a honeymoon?"

"Daddy did," explained Hanabi proudly. Just as Naruto began to turn pink, she continued, "And I don't know why I can't go with you! It's just a vacation, right?"

Naruto stared for a moment before bursting out into laughter. I laughed too from where I was sitting, munching on the plate our little waitress had brought us.

Hanabi was not so amused, glaring at Naruto enough to quickly make him stop his laughing.

"Well, me and Hinata-"

"H-Hinata and I," Hinata corrected softly. Naruto rolled his eyes and grinned wider.

"Hinata and I," he continued, "want to spend some time without everyone else. Just the two of us." He winked at Hinata, who blushed.

"B-but I'm sure N-N-Naruto will be happy to take you on-once we return," she said, and Hanabi looked to Naruto, who nodded vigorously.

"Okay," said Hanabi, "but if you forget then I'm gonna kill you."

Judging from the look on Naruto's face at the younger Hyuga's comment, I could tell he didn't recognize it was a (failed) attempt on Hanabi's part at humor. Hinata smiled, and then her eyes met mine.

Uh-oh.

She lead her new husband (who was frantically trying to reason to Hanabi why she _SHOULDN'T_ kill him) to our table. I gulped.

"Tenten," she said.

"Hi," I replied awkwardly. I looked at Neji quickly, but he wasn't about to offer me any support, so I cleared my throat. "Nice food," I said, motioning a my plate. Never mind that I hadn't eaten any yet. It still _looked_ good, and that's _half _the point, isn't it?

Hanabi squealed loudly. My attention was re-focused to the groom, who had picked Hanabi up and was flinging her about this way and that. The girl was overjoyed; Naruro looked happy, too.

A smile graced the bride's face.

And then, despite how my day had been turning out, I grinned along with Hinata.

"Tenten?" asked Naruto, still holding his younger sister-in-law. "Is your toe okay? Because the way you were walking when you came in was a little weird, and I just thought-"

"Oh, it's fine, it's fine," I said, waving away his concern. "Life, ya know?"

Naruto and Hinata shared a glance at each other.

"Yeah, well, if you say so," replied the goofball.

I looked up from my couch. I had just settled down so I could rest my foot while taking a nap, but _noooooooo_, someone had decided to knock!

Well, it wasn't like I had been about to go to sleep, anyway. Not any time soon.

I stood and hobbled on over to the door.

"Yeah?" I asked, opening it.

Neji stood there, raising an eyebrow.

"What?" I replied, raising one of mine.

"Wedding plans," he replied.

I waved my hand indifferently.

"Ehh, you go on ahead," I said, moving to close the door. Neji easily avoided it and just slid inside before the door actually closed in place. "I don't really feel like hanging with the in-laws, no offense."

"Tenten," he said somewhat reproachfully. I shrugged and stumbled back to my couch, where I decided to plop myself back down at. I lifted my foot and shoved it in his face.

"Still somewhat-broken here," I said proudly. "Can't walk. So sad."

"You made it to the wedding, you can certainly make a clan meeting."

I shook my head no, grinning.

"Nope," I replied. "Look, see? See my swollen ankle?" I pointed at a particularly blackened (and, yes, swollen) piece of flesh. "That wasn't there until I got back. It got worse. So I'm crashing here." I waved my arms in a teasingly spooky manner. "Tell them I'll be with them in spirit."

Neji grunted something I couldn't decipher before picking my feet up a bit and sitting down on the couch, too.

"If you're skipping, then so am I."

I laughed, sitting up to pat his head.

"Hiashi probably won't be that surprised," I said. Neji nodded.

"Probably not." He then picked my feet up again and stood, clearly intending to do something or other.

"Want some eggs or something?" he asked me. I made a face.

"Naw," I replied. "I'll go for some takeout myself. Sometimes ya gotta take a break and relax from doing everything by hand."

Neji blinked at me.

"Are you telling me to go buy something from a restaurant and bring it here?" he asked. I clapped happily.

"Bingo!"

Neji scowled.

"That's just pawning the work by hand off on me. You owe me."

"I'm gonna be your wife, I don't owe you squat."

Neji smirked a little.

"Yeah, you do."

It was my turn to grimace.

"Uhm, _why_?"

He smiled that little smile of his, the one he uses when he knows the answer to the question you're dying to know, the one he uses when he has no intent of sharing that answer with you.

That smile frustrates me.

Like _crazy_.

"Nejiiiiii," I whined. "Tell me!"

He tapped his chin.

"Well, let's see. Oh, yeah." He tapped my injured foot lightly. "You owe me a dance."

I rolled my eyes. That was all? That was the big "answer" he had?

"We can dance all you wanna at our wedding," I said. "I'm hungry, though. We can talk about dancing when you get back, okay?"

Neji nodded.

"Sure."

As he left, I looked outside.

The sun was setting. It never ceases to amaze me, how beautiful it is. During the war, when night fell, I couldn't watch; I would be fighting against the red backdrop of the setting sun, adding a deeper, sadder kind of red to it. I was glad to be back to seeing the pale red of the approaching evening and not the blood on my weapons and hands.

And as I was watching that big orb of light slowly retreating beyond the horizon, I thought of the future, not the past.

I wondered if Neji would be as good with kids as Naruto was.

I wondered if we would be interrupted at our wedding by a late guest.

I wondered who would walk me down the aisle.

But most of all, I wondered whether I should make eggs for breakfast that day.

_Ehh, why not_, I finally decided, smiling faintly at my bruising foot. _Life's full of pain. The little pleasures are what get us through. And eggs for breakfast are definitely a little pleasure._

And I knew I had something way better than eggs to keep me happy in life: I had Neji.

_Yup_, I decided, finally closing my eyes to rest, _Neji and eggs. The meaning of my life, right there, summed up by three words._

It's more than enough for me.

**AN: And that's it, folks. Hope you enjoyed the story! This is the last part of Holding On. I'm not gonna write a sequel unless I get seriously pestered to; I only intended for it to be a two-shot, but I added this last chapter for all of you who wanted more.**

**Don't forget the little things in life that keep you holding on!**


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